Making mental health services more effective and accessible

The Government has set out actions to improve mental health and wellbeing, the largest cause of disability in the UK which is closely connected with other problems, including poor physical health, education and work prospects.

Actions

Prioritising mental health

We want public services to reflect the importance of mental health in their planning, putting it on a par with physical health. So we are:

making better access to mental health services and shorter waiting times a priority for NHS England

making reducing mental health problems a priority for Public Health England, the new national public health service

Preventing suicides

Overall, the number of suicides in England has fallen over the past 10 years. But the suicide rate is higher for some groups, including young and middle aged men, people in the care of mental health services and prisoners.